Traditionally, dinner on a cruise ship has been served at two specific seating times. "=0 2BNX/edbi-:w)ddA(BTec;B&r9mE(!Rp#nZbCE2$*,U3Qg+sm{_`S.c xj"PxglZ%Ter_&8W}.l|2cs='g}:f kyMFNG7xFdI"^Jd\O&+W\^:_6 XEljBWm6jk2Tn)a0jGG\E The flexible option allows you to select your own dining time and table companions on a daily basis. Plus, your own feed of TPG content. ;p, You will be able to leave a comment after signing in, By If you are choosing My Time Dining because you are not a fan of either set dining times, you will need to ensure that you make nightly reservations as soon as possible via the Cruise Planner. Then, contact one with a best-price guarantee and have them beat it! However, as mentioned, it is usually just easier and more convenient to leave the auto-gratuity/service charge/hotel charge (it is called different things on different cruise lines) in place. Follow along on this incredible voyage! My Time Dining is now a choice within the booking process. Are you sure that isn't an Iglu Cruise rule? Search Now It is recommended that you book a table though. Royal Caribbean does make it easy to enjoy flexible dining with My Time Dining, so just make sure you sign up to it if you want to decide when you eat each day. It isn't a hidden charge, since we all know about the charge and of course it subsidizes the wage bill. No votes so far! It is much simpler, and fairer, to leave them in place. Jon got hooked on cruising after his first cruise on his honeymoon, and today he is always looking for cruise deals and reading information about the cruise industry. If you are asking by prepaying gratuities in advance does that force you to do MTD, then the answer is no. My Time Dining usually begins around 6:00pm and lasts until 9:30pm, giving you a wide range of times to choose from. but only parties of 20 or less can be seated at one time. Flexible seating works very much like standard restaurant seating. You cannot paste images directly. Discover the culinary curiosities of Wonderland Imaginative Cuisine. Royal Caribbean Gratuities: Everything You Need to Know We were unaware of the automatic (recommended amount) tipping charge applied to our credit card when we switched to My Time on the 3rd day of our recent 8 day cruise. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). 0000896900 00000 n 0000014304 00000 n That is really the biggest flaw with My Time Dining. I am looking at cancelling my gratuities when I get on board so I can pay these personally. 0000902670 00000 n If the gratuities are pre-paid, it should be part of the cruise booking. . 0000896807 00000 n 0000003836 00000 n 0000006679 00000 n But its definitely not for everyone. Callummck Australians typically do not tip because the minimum wage in Australia is $20.33 AUD/hr ($14.56 USD/hr). Yes, if there is availability in the My Time Dining Room, we would be happy to accommodate the request. Started October 12, 2018, Copyright 19952023 The Independent Traveler, Inc. You may request a certain waiter each night, and we will work to seat your party in his or her area depending on availability. It's also not possible to update every forum discussion when information changes so it can be confusing to read conflicting threads. You will see the same helpful crew members waiting on you in the WJ as you did last night in the MDR. 0000426236 00000 n This also applies to sailings departing from Australia and New Zealand. You dont really get to know the people you are eating with that well. Yes, if there is availability in the My Time Dining Room, we would be happy to accommodate the request. When booking a Royal Caribbean cruise, you have two options for dining: My Time Dining and Traditional Dining. Royal Caribbean charges a gratuity of $16.00 per person, per day. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit. Any amount is fine and will be appreciated by the hard-working crew. Cost includes $12.95 plus applicable local sales tax. When making a reservation you will be offered "My Time" or traditional dining times (i.e., 5:30 pm & 8:00 pm). 0000901330 00000 n All rights reserved. *Please see all applicable Terms & Conditions for Promotions. 0000898322 00000 n The only real downside beyond having to pay your gratuities in advance is that you arent guaranteed the same waiter every night. We have my time dining and according to the threads it looks like the gratuities are asked to be prepaid. Welcome aboard! Reservations arestronglyrecommended in order to avoid a delay in seating. Also as others have stated, prepaid gratuities and MTD have nothing to do with each other anymore. You can then book dinner in the Main Dining Room for any time you want, or just walk in without a reservation. It is possible to snag dining times around 7:00pm every night, but this is a highly desirable dinner time. That said, some people do leave a little extra for crew members who go above and beyond. 0000750166 00000 n ;). A beginners guide to picking a cruise line, Use these credit cards to maximize your next cruise vacation, 9 times you do not need to tip on a cruise, The best cruise booking perks and which ones are actually free, pay $16 for what the line now calls a crew appreciation charge, The 5 most desirable cabin locations on any cruise ship, The 8 worst cabin locations on any cruise ship, A quick guide to the most popular cruise lines, 21 tips and tricks that will make your cruise go smoothly, 12 best cruises for people who never want to grow up, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 0000916809 00000 n The traditional dining experience allows you the choice of either early or late seating times for each day of your cruise. Unlike traditional dining - where a dining time is assigned to you - guests who opt for My Time Dining can eat in the Main Dining Room whenever they like during dining hours, according to availability. 0000916095 00000 n Pardon? My confusion is to do with the My Time Dining - If gratuities havent been prepaid, do we still have the My Time Dining thats on the invoice?! Can a family in one stateroom dine at different times with My Time Dining? The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Royal Caribbean Blog. Many cruise lines will tack an automatic gratuity charge onto the bill for extra-fee drinks, restaurant meals and spa treatments. The group we are going with have all chosen the early 5pm dinner reservation. You also do not get to know the wait staff as well, since you may be seated in a different area every night. January 11, 2019 in Royal Caribbean Discussion. Theres also a dining hotline you can call from the phone in your stateroom to make changes to your reservations. Earn 5X Membership Rewards Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and earn 5X Membership Rewards Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel. 0000901423 00000 n Depending on the choice of the guests on board, there may be designated restaurants for those on a traditional dining plan and those on a My Time Dining plan. Could you please tell me how I can improve it? document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); | In this case, no gratuities will be charged to your onboard account. Upload or insert images from URL. Started August 27, 2021, By Your browser is outdated and does not support many of the modern features of this website, Royal Caribbean. As soon as you place the deposit for your cruise, you will gain access to the Cruise Planner. But to the OP's question, we have MTD on Mariner next month and have not prepaid our gratuities. Reservations are strongly recommended. Be sure to join my email list for my best cruise tips and handpicked deals each week. However, you can still make reservations, based on availability, once onboard. In this line of thinking, lines with these charges are essentially breaking out a good chunk of onboard labor costs as a separate line item on your bill. 0000892817 00000 n document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Dine as you want, when you want. A lot of cruisers were actually upset when they heard about My Time Dining and vowed to never sail with Royal Caribbean again if this was the only option. This card is also incredibly rewarding for travel purchases, helping you rack up a ton of Membership Rewards points for your next award trip. Just head over to the Main Dining Room to speak with a head waiter, and they will assist you! Royal Caribbeans award winning dining program, My Time Dining, offers flexible and traditional options. What happens if I cancel the gratuities? My Time Dining is now a choice within the booking process. Theyll be able to make recommendations based on what youve previously ordered and make sure your favourite drink is waiting for you, if you want them too. Some people assume that, because My Time Dining offers more flexible dining, it has a more flexible dress code. 0000003555 00000 n Royal Caribbean | MY TIME DINING DAILY RESERVATIONS 0000897170 00000 n So therefore it does not show on our invoice. Someone else that pays more will take up the slack for you. 0000906128 00000 n 0000418920 00000 n By 0000005676 00000 n If you're wondering how much you should tip on the specific cruise line you're considering or have already looked, we've compiled that information here. Check here before booking an award fare. Our Best Royal Caribbean Cruise Tips And Tricks Now you have a choice to prepay gratuities or not with either Traditional or MTD. By At many big lines, such as Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line, its not uncommon for a family of four staying in a single cabin to see around $80 a day in service fees added to their bills. Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $6,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. There have been both positive and negative reports on Royal Caribbeans My Time Dining. When planning your other evening activities, make sure that you allot yourself at least 75 minutes for your Main Dining Room experience. My Time Dining is one of the options youll get to choose from when you book your cruise. 0000892388 00000 n Get Cruise Savvy with our FREE Newsletter! If you would like a specific waiter or table, they are more likely to be able to accommodate your request with advance reservations (however, please note this is based on availability). No reservation is needed, but Royal Caribbean strongly encourages you to get a reservation if you dont want to spend a lot of time waiting when you go to dinner. To request a call back from one of our cruise experts, kindly provide us with the details requested bellow and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Sometimes it's worth a large investment to reap the benefits of a great credit card. I always prepay my gratuities and do traditional dining. Understood, and many passengers also feel this way. 0000422815 00000 n Obviously through this conversation you can tell that you can pre-pay your gratuities our they will be added to your onboard account daily as you cruise. Note, however, that this means you may not be able to have as flexible of a dining experience as you might be hoping for, especially if prime reservations have been secured in advance by other guests. See what a point or mile is worth with our appraisals of a loyalty programs currency, based on redemption values. Lines with such charges include both of the two giants of the cruise business, Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line, as well as Norwegian, MSC Cruises and Princess Cruises. Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. Don't know why you want to do this (are you planning to carry cash every time you go to the WJ?) xbbba`b``0 u B endstream endobj 29 0 obj <>/ViewerPreferences<>/Metadata 6 0 R/AcroForm 30 0 R/Pages 5 0 R/StructTreeRoot 8 0 R/Type/Catalog>> endobj 30 0 obj <>/Encoding<>>>>> endobj 31 0 obj <>/Shading<>/ColorSpace<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageC/ImageI]/Properties<>/MC1<<>>/MC2<<>>/MC3<<>>>>/ExtGState<>>>/Type/Page>> endobj 32 0 obj [/Indexed 47 0 R 162 85 0 R] endobj 33 0 obj [/Indexed 47 0 R 140 80 0 R] endobj 34 0 obj <> endobj 35 0 obj <> endobj 36 0 obj [/Indexed 47 0 R 147 75 0 R] endobj 37 0 obj [/Indexed 47 0 R 120 96 0 R] endobj 38 0 obj [/Indexed 47 0 R 210 122 0 R] endobj 39 0 obj [/Indexed 47 0 R 77 93 0 R] endobj 40 0 obj [/Separation/PANTONE#20281#20CV/DeviceCMYK<>] endobj 41 0 obj [/DeviceN[/Cyan/Magenta/Yellow]/DeviceCMYK 114 0 R 116 0 R] endobj 42 0 obj [/Indexed 47 0 R 128 101 0 R] endobj 43 0 obj [/Indexed 47 0 R 192 121 0 R] endobj 44 0 obj [/Indexed 47 0 R 128 110 0 R] endobj 45 0 obj [/Separation/PANTONE#202727#20C/DeviceCMYK<>] endobj 46 0 obj [/Indexed 47 0 R 3 66 0 R] endobj 47 0 obj [/ICCBased 65 0 R] endobj 48 0 obj <>stream